The circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way is half hidden

We assess the fraction of the Milky Way (MW)'s circumgalactic medium (CGM) eluding detection due to its velocity being similar to gas in the disk. This is achieved using synthetic observations of the CGM in a simulated MW-mass galaxy that shows similar CGM kinematics to the MW and external L ∼ L${}_{\ast }$ galaxies. As viewed by a mock observer at a location similar to the Sun, only 50% (by mass) of the gas moves at high velocity ($|v_{LSR}|⩾100km{s}^{-1}$ or $|v_{DEV}|⩾50km{s}^{-1}$) in the simulated CGM and would be observable. The low-velocity gas is thermodynamically similar to the high-velocity gas, indicating that the 50% observable fraction is applicable to spectral lines from the radio to the ultraviolet. We apply the observable mass fraction (50%) to current estimates of the MW's CGM, and find a corrected total mass of $2.8\times {10}^8{M}_{\odot }$ for gas below 10⁶ K within ∼15 kpc (this excludes the Magellanic System). This is less than the total mass of the CGM extending out to ∼150 kpc in other L ∼ L${}_{\ast }$ galaxies. However, we find similar O vi column densities when the discrepancy in path length between the MW and external galaxies is considered. The coherent spatial and kinematic distribution of low-velocity gas in the simulated CGM suggests that current H i observations of the MW's CGM may miss large low-velocity H i complexes. In addition, current mass estimates of the MW's CGM based on high-velocity line observations with distance constraints may miss a non-negligible fraction of gas in the outer halo, which can be obscured if it moves at a velocity similar to the gas in the lower halo.